1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vibration isolating gear shift lever wherein a layer of resilient material is located between the control lever and the transmission lever for dampening vibrations originating in the engine and/or transmission that are received by the gear shift lever.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicles like automobiles, trucks, loader backhoes, four wheel drive loaders and agricultural tractors are provided with an engine and a transmission for propelling and operating the vehicle. Many times the transmission is a mechanical transmission having a number of gear settings or speeds. The different gear settings or speeds control the speed and propulsion power of the vehicle. The gear settings for a mechanical transmission may be changed by a direct shifter wherein a transmission lever extends from the transmission and is coupled to a gear shift lever located in the operators compartment. An operator manually positions the gear shift lever to change transmission gear settings and speeds. This direct connection between the transmission and the gear shift lever may lead to objectionable gear shift lever vibration and noise. To overcome this problem vibration isolators have been used between the gear shift lever and the transmission lever to dampen these vibrations. The isolators typically are formed from a resilient material such as rubber and provide a layer of resilient material between the gear shift lever and the transmission lever.